Cheese, Bacon and Pineapple Pasty with Chips

Pasties can be made in so many different shapes and forms but it is a great pity that many people automatically assume that they have to buy pasties pre-prepared and do not consider how easy they are to actually make at home. This is especially true where the puff pastry is purchased already made but the other ingredients are prepared from scratch. This recipe for Cheese, Bacon and Pineapple Pasties falls in to that category.

Ingredients per Pasty

3oz puff pastry
3 medallions (or rashers) of bacon
2oz cheddar or other hard cheese
1 pineapple ring (if canned, should be in own juice and not syrup)
Freshly ground black pepper
Beaten egg for glazing

Method

The bacon has to be cooked and allowed to cool prior to its incorporation in the pasty. This is therefore the first step but the bacon should be cooked and no more, not fried or grilled to the point of being crisp.

When the bacon has cooled, the oven should be put on to preheat to 400F/200C/Gas Mark 6. The bacon should then be sliced to a thickness of about 1/4", the cheese coarsely grated and the pineapple fairly finely sliced. The three ingredients should then be mixed together, with a little freshly ground black pepper. Note that additional salt is unlikely to be necessary, due to the saltiness obtained from the bacon.

The puff pastry should be rolled out evenly on a floured surface to the extent where a 10" dinner plate can be used as a template to cut a perfect circle. The pastry will be fairly thin at this stage but this is deceptive as it will puff up considerably during cooking. The filling should then be spread evenly over one half of the circle, leaving a border of up to 1".

The border of the filled half of the circle should be lightly glazed with beaten egg before the other half of the pastry is folded over and the edges gently crimped. A large baking tray should be greased with butter and the pasty placed on the tray. A cut should be made in the top of the pasty to allow steam to escape during cooking, before it is liberally glazed with the beaten egg and placed in to the preheated oven for 35/40 minutes, until beautifully risen and golden.

The cooked pasty can be served with chips as in this example, or even alone as part of a snack or light lunch. Equally, it may be served either hot or cold.